Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures in Science and Inquiry

Dec 05, 2019 Rusty rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, prose, science

I’m going to try to get a little closer to current by the end of the year on my reviews. So, watch out internet, Rusty may be posting several reviews over the next few weeks (by which, I mean, essentially, a blog post where I talk about whatever I want to, and at some point may or may not mention the book being reviewed).

I think I may have mentioned my kid coming to visit me here. It was an awesome time. What I didn’t mention is that he has a habit of doing risky things and usually turning out I’m going to try to get a little closer to current by the end of the year on my reviews. So, watch out internet, Rusty may be posting several reviews over the next few weeks (by which, I mean, essentially, a blog post where I talk about whatever I want to, and at some point may or may not mention the book being reviewed).

I think I may have mentioned my kid coming to visit me here. It was an awesome time. What I didn’t mention is that he has a habit of doing risky things and usually turning out okay in the end. Turns out, he had a plan of riding his motorcycle from his place in the southern US to the airport in New York to catch his flight (and later return), because, presumably, the flights were nominally cheaper.

Most people that knew and cared for him advised him that this plan was somewhere between ‘monumental stupidity’ and ‘ill-conceived.’ But like many twentysomething men, the world was full of idiots and he was doing it anyway.

Anyhow, he missed his flight here, as he was too busy shivering on the side of the interstate about 600 miles south of the airport when it took off. He racked up some motel costs as he called the airlines and made arrangements to fly out of the nearest airport and rebook his flight to Bermuda.

But you know what? He made it. He said it was a lesson learned and an experience he’s glad he had. Satisfied that that was about as close as I’ll ever get to a ‘you were right’ sort of thing, my question about his return was simple: Is the return flight to NY? Or to the airport where your motorcycle is?

Needless to say, hilarity ensued. Another round of rebooking, extra fees, and longer transit times followed. He couldn’t get to the airport his motorcycle was at because her return flight was through a different airline that did not service that airport. So he had to go to another city, get someone to take him via car up to his bike, then proceed to fix it (his thoughts on his bike: I’m not sure how the rear wheel didn’t fall off as I drove) and then make his way back home.

Of course, there was a second round of historically bad weather and another bike breakdown with more shivering on the side of the highway. He ended up having to get someone to come get him because he simply couldn’t make it the last hundred miles or so.

The costs of his plan were in the ballpark of a thousand dollars more than if he’d simply flown straight from his local airport. And he was forced to ask friends and family for favors during the holidays. But on the plus side, he cataloged the whole trip, videoing almost every waking moment, so I’m hoping for a Trains, Planes, and Automobiles type of film to come out of the whole ordeal.

And then there was this book, which was about a jillion times more terrifying to me than thinking about my kid and his death wish. While this book has nothing at all to do with anything I’ve previously typed, it does connect for me because it makes it clear that life on this planet is a large scale war for survival and that we live in a sea of parasites that will eat your brain, your organs, your flesh, and make you dream of a quick death. They may change how you think, how you live, and how you act – only to benefit them – and make you believe it’s a great idea that you’re living your life based on what they need.

Nightmares. All the world is a nightmare.

Regardless, I feel I have to point out that this is the longest I have EVER wanted to read a book before I actually set down to read. I read a pre-release excerpt from it in Discover Magazine in what I think was the very late 90’s (could have been early 2000’s) and really wanted to give it a try then. It ended up taking me 20 years to finally get around to it. So, wow. Time flies. ...more

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